ghodges Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Built this one for the Airfix group build over on Hyperscale. Not a great kit. Buildable, but not a great kit. If you want to build one, especially for competition, get the Tamiya MkI. Other than that, it was good to get one of the "stash" done. Only 249 more to go....... Comments and critiques more than welcome! Cheers! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantomordie Posted January 30, 2009 Report Share Posted January 30, 2009 Looks good to me. Good looking paint job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulBradley Posted January 31, 2009 Report Share Posted January 31, 2009 Always good to see Spitfires! :) One of the criticisms of the Airfix kit is the shape of the fin - how did you find it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glynyrd Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Great looking Spitfire, Gil. Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 I found the shape of the fin to be at the end of the airplane.... .... Sorry! Too easy to pass up! Actually, this was mentioned by the "Brit" in our club! He says that although the kit rudder/fin has that rep, and it clearly doesn't match the pofile of other kits (like Tamiya's); that it supposedly is VERY close to the factory blueprints! My problems with the kit were as follows: the WORST wing/fuselage joints in recent memory; and the engineering of the gear/tires. The wing root gaps were easily 1/16in on BOTH sides! However, the fix was actually easy. Mix up your favorite epoxy putty (Milliput, Apoxy Sculp, SIG, etc.), ladle it in, and then wipe off the excess with a finger dipped in alchohol. ALmost no sanding needed after that! The main gear fit tightly and leave little to no room to adjust their angles to match properly. But, worse than that, there is no "axle" to attach the tire to; just the inner surface of the inner wheel as molded on the end of the gear leg. That means you can't test fit the tires. THAT means you have little to no chance to tweak their angles to match and no way to gauge the spot and/or angle at which to sand a flat spot on the tire bottoms to simulate weight. The interior detail is "average", but acceptable; especially with a closed canopy. The kit has tons of extra parts (spinners, props, radiators, cannon breech bulges, exhaust stacks, wheels, etc.), and you can build a MKII from the kit. It also includes the canopies from their later MK releases (including a bubble canopy). The down side is that though the decals lay down very well, the yellow is dot-matrix printed. It only shows under magnification, but you'd want something better for a competition model. I guess my expectations were for a simpler and easier build. I built the older Revel 1/48 MKII Spitfire and it was a very pleasant experience. This did not meet that same expectation. Cheers! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabow Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I like it!! I too built this kit. Kinda fun build to see how much Airfix put into it. Did u reshape the vertical stab? The Mk. II might be the better version of the two, huh? Bo Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bun E. Carlos Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Gill...........Did you happen to see the article that B. Green did in the Magazine????? BTW, I know you like clean A/C ( :) ) But you gave me the urge to DIRTY one up!!! :) ........................Just got a Book in from the Military Book Club on the BOB !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Montgomery Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Sounds like a real pain to build. Not familiar with the kit.... is it fairly old? If not, I'm concerned about any recent releases having these same design issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted March 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I've built some of the other Airfix 1/48 kits and while none of them have the same rep as Monogram, Hasagawa, or Tamiya; they're certainly buildable. This kit is their 2nd generation of 1/48 stuff. It's not as old as the late 70's releases (like the Bf-109F). I believe it was put out initially in the late 90's. That said, it's still not considered as being on a par with other releases from a decade ago. As pointed out above, the gear/tire assemblies are the real beef I had with the kit. The rest involves fit issues which almost every kit has, though this one has more than others. My understanding is that IF you're a Spitfire boffin, this kit might be up your alley. It has a lot of good things (correct gull wing on the bottom, flat canopy, Watts prop, etc.); as well as the parts to do the later MkI and early MkII's applicable to the BoB. And, since it shares sprues with the other Airfix Spits, there are even more parts you can donate to your spares box or other Spit kits. If you're looking for a Tamigawavellogram type of build, pass on this and go for a Hasgawa or Tamiya Spitfire. Even the old Revell MkII Spitfire is an easier build, IF you can live with a little less accuracy in the airframe. If you already have this Airfix MkI in the stash, build it but be prepared to put some elbow grease into it. I did it merely as an exercise for the Hyperscale group build, and had little motivation besides that. Someone with Jack's enthusiasm could turn it into a real labor of love with a little extra TLC. Cheers! Gil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jabow Posted March 3, 2009 Report Share Posted March 3, 2009 Sounds like a real pain to build. Not familiar with the kit.... is it fairly old? If not, I'm concerned about any recent releases having these same design issues. This kit came out last year, IIRC. They reworked the Mk.V kit, I think. The vertical stab is mis-shaped but a little card stock fixes that. If you're not into the minor differences of Spitfires, and I'm NOT, it's not correct right from the box. The pros pointed all these out to me AFTER I completed the model. For example, Airfix molded the flaps so they could be dropped. I did and found out that the flaps were NEVER left in the down position on the ground. That brace behind the headrest should not be there for a Mk.I. (But you can make a Mk.II as well. The instructions don't tell ya to remove it.) The tool in the entrance door shouldn't be there, either. I thought it was kinda fun build, but if and when I do another, I'll start with the Tamiya kit!! Bo Roberts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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